MP Andy Slaughter insists he did nothing wrong in not returning from holiday to attend an emergency parliamentary debate on the London riots.

Political rivals including Fulham and Chelsea MP Greg Hands and members of Hammersmith and Fulham Council were quick to seize on Mr Slaughter's no-show at last Thursday's debate, branding him 'Absent Andy'.

But the Labour politician for Hammersmith and Shepherd's Bush has defended his decision not to return, saying the fact his constituency was broadly unaffected by the disorder justified his choice.

"I was in contact with my office from Tuesday every few hours and was kept fully informed about the situation in my constituency," he said.

"If we had have been affected I would have flown back for the debate but thankfully the police here acquitted themselves very well and flying me back would have cost taxpayers about £1,000, which I didn't think would have been the best use of public money,"

Mr Slaughter, who says he works 51 weeks of the year, said the focus last week should have been on the police's operational response to the unrest, rather than the causes.

"It is now that we should be looking into the reasons, which I believe is the ongoing role of the constituency MP.

"In Hammersmith and Fulham the operational response of our police was excellent and they acquitted themselves very well - I don't think it was just pure luck that the borough wasn't hit hard."

The MP issued stinging rebuke to his Conservative rivals, who have been exchanging opinions about his absence on Twitter.

"It's a disgraceful example of cheap political point scoring. Greg Hands seems to have spent most of last week writing about me when he should have been helping his constituents, who were affected by the riots.

"I have had no critical correspondence whatsoever from my own constituents and this whole story has been manufactured by the Tories,"

Mr Hands questioned the Prime Minster about policing methods in the debate and is holding a surgery on Wednesday (17) for constituents affected by the riots.

Much of the disorder in Hammersmith and Fulham centred around North End Road, Fulham